9 Postures

To Jump-Start Your
Yoga Practice

When Yoga was developed over five thousand years ago, one of the main paths was sitting for extended
periods in concentration and meditation. The sages immersed in this process came to realize that they
needed great health and stamina if they were to sit still. They began to notice that the animals around them
stretched after lying down for a while. They soon realized that if they stretched and strengthened their bodies
like the animals did, they could sit in greater comfort. This was the beginning of what we know as postures.
Postures are physical positions that emulate animals and other shapes; these shapes give us flexibility and
strength, thus facilitating extended periods of sitting. This relatively simple part of the Yogic system was
expanded in the last century to include hundreds of positions that came from hundreds of different teachers.
Some manuals include over a thousand postures.
The main point of practicing postures is to make the body stronger and more flexible so that we may sit still
for lengthy periods. When we practice postures over a long time, though, we must practice in a way that
reflects what our body needs in that chapter of our lives.
The postures that make up a beneficial practice, at their very core, affect the body in nine ways. When you
incorporate these nine actions into one cohesive practice, you will have a complete system for building physical
health: grounding, warming, strengthening, forward bending, backward bending, balancing, inverting,
twisting, and hip opening.
Below are nine postures to get you started in this practice, each of which affects the body in one of these
different ways. They are intended for beginners, people with very stiff bodies, people with frail bodies, or
people interested in warming the body up for sitting in meditation. To build on these postures, check out
the posture practice outlined in my book The One Plan.

Namaste

-yc

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

Mountain
Pose

(grounding)

POSE 1

Mountain Pose
(Tadasana)

1. Breathe.
2. Stand upright with your feet together.
3. Distribute your weight equally on both feet as well as equally on
your heels and balls of your feet.
4. Straighten your knees without hyperextending them, and lower
your tailbone without forcing your pelvis forward.
5. Open your chest with your shoulders by shifting them gently
back. Your shoulder blades will move toward each other.
6. Point your fingers toward the floor.
7. Lift the top of your head as if someone were pulling it with a string.
8. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

Cat

(warming)

Cow

(warming)

POSE 2

Cat/Cow

(Marjariasana/Bitilasana)

1. Breathe.
2. Come to your hands and knees.
3. Place your hands directly below your shoulders and allow your
fingers to open naturally.
4. Place your knees directly below the hips and point your toes
behind you.
5. As you inhale, lower your abdomen toward the ground and
raise your head upward.
6. As you exhale, curve your spine upward and lower your head
down so that your entire spine creates the shape of an arch.
7. Repeat this process as instructed.
8. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

Downward Facing Dog

(strengthening)

POSE 3

Downward Facing Dog

(Adho Mukha Svanasana)

1. Breathe.
2. From your hands and knees, exhale and come to an inverted Vshape with your buttocks up in the air and your feet far enough
away from your hands so that your heels almost touch the floor.
3. Continue to breathe as you press the base of your thumb and index
finger into the floor and allow your fingers to spread naturally.
4. Straighten your arms by drawing your elbows toward each other
and rolling your shoulders back into the torso.
5. Create a natural curvature of your spine by drawing your tailbone up and back.
6. Press the inside of the balls of your feet into the floor and draw
the outside of your heels toward the floor.
7. Breathe.
8. To come out, lower your knees to the floor and come to sit on
your heels.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

Childs Pose

(forward bending)

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POSE 4

Childs Pose
(Balasana)

1. Breathe.
2. Come to your knees and rest your buttocks on your heels.
3. Exhale and lower your torso down so that your abdomen rests
on your thighs and place your forehead on the ground.
4. Allow your arms to rest at your sides.
5. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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Bridge Pose

(backward bending)

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POSE 5

Bridge Pose
(Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

1. Breathe.
2. While lying on your back, bend your knees and bring the soles
of your feet to the floor.
3. Inhale, press your arms into the floor, and raise your pelvis up.
4. Interlace your fingers underneath your pelvis and exhale as you
roll your right then your left shoulder underneath your rib cage
so that the backs of the arms form the base of your position.
5. Be sure to unclench your buttocks.
6. Breathe.
7. To come out, release your right and then your left shoulder, separate
your hands, and lower your pelvis back down to the ground.
8. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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Tree Pose

(balancing)

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POSE 6

Tree Pose
(Vrksasana)

1. Breathe.
2. From a standing position, lift your right leg up off the ground
with a bent knee and take hold of your right ankle.
3. Place the sole of your right foot up against the inside of your
left thigh and let it rest there.
4. Place your hands in prayer in front of your chest.
5. Find a point of focus in front of you and breathe.
6. To come out, take hold of your right ankle, remove it from your
inner left thigh, and let go of it as you lower it to the ground.
7. Breathe.
8. Repeat on the opposite side with your left leg.
9. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

15

Legs Up The Wall

(inverting)

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POSE 7

Legs Up The Wall

(Viparita Karani)

1. Breathe.
2. Come to a wall without any obstructions.
3. Lie on your side with your buttocks at the base of the wall, your
torso perpendicular to the wall, and your legs extended in front
of you along the base where the floor meets the wall. You
should be in the shape of an L.
4. As you inhale, come to your back and allow your heels to follow
the path of a quarter circle up the wall.
5. Allow your arms to splay out to the sides with your palms facing up.
6. Close your eyes.
7. Breathe.
8. To come out, exhale as you re-trace the quarter circle back
down to the floor and move your buttocks away from the wall.
9. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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Supine Spinal Twist

(twisting)

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POSE 8

Supine Spinal Twist

(Supta Matsyendrasana)

1. Breathe.
2. While lying on your back, bend your knees and place the soles
of your feet on the floor.
3. Pick your pelvis off the ground, shift it to the right by a few
inches, and exhale as you lower your knees to the left.
4. Allow your arms to extend in opposite directions on the floor
so that they are perpendicular to the torso and your palms are
facing down.
5. Twist your upper back and neck so that your shoulder blades
are on the floor and your head is facing the right arm.
6. Bend your elbows to form cactus arms (as pictured) if you wish.
7. Breathe.
8. To come out, lift your knees up and return them to an upright position.
9. Repeat on the opposite side.
10. Breathe.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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Butterfly

(hip-opening)

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POSE 9

Butterfly
(Baddha Konasana)

1. Breathe.
2. From a seated position, open your legs with bent knees and
touch the soles of your feet together in front of you.
3. Sit upright.
4. As you exhale, continue to lower your knees toward the ground.
As you inhale, raise them up slightly, and lower them even more
as you exhale once again.
5. Breathe.

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About Yogi Cameron

Yogi Cameron left the world of high fashion to pursue an ongoing study of Ayurveda and Yoga. He has
been written up in ELLE magazine, The New York Times, Mens Journal, Wall Street Journal, and The London
Times, and has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Extra, E!
Entertainment, and Martha, amongst others.
The Guru in You, his first book, was published by HarperCollins in 2011 and his follow-up book The One
Plan was published in 2013. He has starred in two seasons of his own television program on the wellness
channel Veria Living and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, Positively Positive, and SheKnows.
Yogi Cameron has brought Yoga and meditation to children and troops in Afghanistan and has worked with
young girls rescued from sex trafficking practices in Cambodia.

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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Would you like to improve

your yoga practice?
Check out The One Plan, which delves deeper into
helping you build a more comprehensive yoga practice.

The One Plan

In this revolutionary new program, Yogi Cameron Alborzian presents an antidote to the typical New Year,
New You offerings.
Why do we shortchange our lives and happiness by going for the quick-fix gimmicks that crowd the
shelves each January?
Rather than yet another 30 day program, Yogi Cameron speaks to those who are truly looking to make a
lifelong, lasting change in their health and happiness.

http://www.yogicameron.com/oneplan

9 Postures to Jump-Start Your Yoga Practice - YOGI CAMERON

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